Natasha Lomas
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The Latest from Natasha Lomas
EU-US Privacy Shield passes third Commission ‘health check’ — but litigation looms
The third annual review of the EU-US Privacy Shield data transfer mechanism has once again been nodded through by Europe’s executive. This despite the EU parliament calling last year for the mec
Google’s Play Store is giving an age-rating finger to Fleksy, a Gboard rival 🖕
Platform power is a helluva a drug. Do a search on Google’s Play Store in Europe and you’ll find the company’s own Gboard app has an age rating of PEGI 3 — aka the pan-European
Google has used contract swaps to get bulk access terms to NHS patient data
New Scientist has obtained a legal agreement between Google’s health division and the UK National Health Service (NHS) that includes provision to pass five years’ worth of patient data in
British parliament presses Facebook on letting politicians lie in ads
In yet another letter seeking to pry accountability from Facebook, the chair of a British parliamentary committee has pressed the company over its decision to adopt a policy on political ad that suppo
Google picks up Microsoft veteran, Javier Soltero, to head G Suite
Google has hired Microsoft’s former Cortana and Outlook VP, Javier Soltero, to head up its productivity and collaboration bundle, G Suite — which includes consumer and business tools such
EU contracts with Microsoft raising ‘serious’ data concerns, says watchdog
Europe’s chief data protection watchdog has raised concerns over contractual arrangements between Microsoft and the European Union institutions which are making use of its software products and
Catalan separatists have tooled up with a decentralized app for civil disobedience
Is our age of ubiquitous smartphones and social media turning into an era of mass civil unrest? Two years after holding an independence referendum and unilaterally declaring independence in defiance o
UK quietly ditches porn age checks in favor of wider online harms rules
A controversial UK government scheme to introduce mandatary age checks for accessing online pornography has been dropped — for now. Introduction of the measure, which was intended to protect chi
Europe issues interim antitrust order against Broadcom as probe continues
Europe has ordered chipmaker Broadcom to stop applying exclusivity clauses in agreements with six of its major customers — imposing so called ‘interim measures’ based on preliminary
Germany says it won’t ban Huawei or any 5G supplier up front
Germany is resisting US pressure to shut out Chinese tech giant Huawei from its 5G networks —Â saying it will not ban any supplier for the next-gen mobile networks on an up front basis, per Reut
WeWork pulls thousands of phone booths out of service over formaldehyde scare
WeWork, the co-working empire once valued at $47 billion before reality struck, plunging the business and its investors into crisis, has another problem to add to its growing pile — one which do
UK biotech startup Mogrify injects $16M to get novel cell therapies to market soon
Cambridge, UK-based biotech startup Mogrify, which is working on systematizing the development of novel cell therapies in areas such as regenerative medicine, has closed an initial $16 million Series
California’s Privacy Act: What you need to know now
This week, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, published draft guidance for enforcing the state’s landmark privacy legislation. The draft text of the regulations under the California Con
Trump gets on Twitch
The reelection campaign will be live-streamed. US president Donald Trump has joined Amazon-owned live-streaming platform Twitch. Twitch is best known as a social video streaming platform for gamers bu
New Vector scores $8.5M to plug more users into its open, decentralized messaging Matrix
New Vector, a European startup founded in 2017 by the creators of an open, decentralized communications standard called Matrix to drive adoption and grow an ecosystem around an alternative messaging p
European risk report flags 5G security challenges
European Union Member States have published a joint risk assessment report into 5G technology which highlights increased security risks that will require a new approach to securing telecoms infrastruc
China attacks Apple for allowing Hong Kong crowdsourced police activity app
Apple’s decision to greenlight an app called HKmaps, which is being used by pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong to crowdsource information about street closures and police presence, is attract
Europe’s recharged antitrust chief makes her five-year pitch to be digital EVP
Europe’s competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager, set for a dual role in the next Commission, faced three hours of questions from members of four committees in the European Parliament this a
Laurel Bowden of VC firm 83North on the European deep tech and startup ecosystems
London and Tel Aviv based VC firm 83North has closed out its fifth fund at $300 million, as we reported earlier. It last raised a $250 million fund in 2017 and expects to continue the same investment
83North closes $300M fifth fund focused on Europe, Israel
83North has closed its fifth fund, completing an oversubscribed $300 million raise and bringing its total capital under management to $1.1BN+. The VC firm, which spun out from Silicon Valley giant Gre